Additive Manufacturing of Selected Automotive Components

在汽车工业中，开发新产品或修改现有设计通常是一个非常昂贵和耗时的过程。汽车行业一直将增材制造（AM）技术作为汽车零部件设计和开发的重要工具，因为它可以缩短开发周期，降低制造和产品成本.增材制造工艺也被用于制造少量的结构和功能部件，如发动机排气管、传动轴、齿轮箱部件和豪华小批量车辆的制动系统。FCA Canada Inc.正在寻求与麦克马斯特大学合作，以评估使用增材制造技术的设计优化和制造选定的汽车零部件。这种设计优化包括：减轻重量，材料选择和拓扑优化。FCA Canada Inc.和麦克马斯特大学专注于使用AM技术重新设计两个选定的汽车零件，并使用直接金属激光烧结（DMLS）工艺制造这些零件。由于引入了新的创新产品和工艺，该项目为增加FCA在汽车市场的利润提供了一个重要机会。这种汽车零部件AM的合作将扩大FCA目前的客户产品，并扩大其在北美和国际上的基础。

Developing a new product or modifying an existent design in the automotive industry is often a very costly and time-consumingprocess. The automotive industry has been using Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology as an important tool in the design anddevelopment of automotive components because it can shorten the development cycle and reduce manufacturing and productcosts. AM processes also have been used to manufacture small quantities of structural and functional parts, such as engineexhausts, drive shafts, gear box components and breaking systems for luxury, low-volume vehicles. FCA Canada Inc. is seekingto collaborate with McMaster University to evaluate the use of AM technology for design optimization and manufacturing ofselected automotive parts. This design optimization includes: weight reduction, material selection, and topology optimization. Thiscollaborative project between FCA Canada Inc. and McMaster University focuses on the use of AM technology to redesign twoselected automobile parts and manufacture these parts using the Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) process. The projectrepresents a significant opportunity to increase FCAs profit in the automotive market as a result of introducing new innovativeproducts and processes. This collaboration in AM of automotive components will expand FCAs current customer offerings andextend their base in North America and internationally.